In the fall, the system will also track students as they get on and off the bus by encrypted cards issued to the students.

“We see this as a huge tool to assist us in taking care of and seeing to the welfare of our students,” Gene Holloway, the district’s transportation director, told the Denton Record Chronicle. “Safety and security is the primary, No. 1 priority, and second is our ability to utilize the system to be as efficient and proficient as we can in offering the best services to our students and families.”

The cards will account for the students presence on the bus when in proximity to a scanner near the stairs. The cards are free and students not assigned to a bush will not be allowed to board.

The school district wants to eventually stream video from inside buses to monitor them in real time.